2025, Mid-Year Impact Updates

 

Celebrating progress made possible by your support! 

As we reach the halfway mark of 2025, we’re excited to share the incredible strides you’ve made possible across our program areas. As our team works to creatively respond to changes in federal programs and funding, we are truly grateful for generous donations that restore thriving ecosystems, deepen partnerships, and grow our organizational capacity. 

Organizational Growth and Leadership 

Thanks to your support, we’re strengthening the foundation of our organization: 

  • Our Board of Directors approved a new five-year strategic plan (2025–2029) to guide our mission-forward growth. 

  • Janice Gardner (Executive Director) and Rose Smith (Stream Ecologist) are participating in leadership development programs.

  • We launched a staff engagement and culture survey to ensure our internal practices reflect our values.

  • We welcomed new team members: 

    • Kim Howes, Development Director, expanding fundraising activities and donor engagement. 

    • Shane Hill, Riverscape Restoration Project Manager, increasing capacity for beaver-based restoration. 

    • Olivia Chase, Communications & Outreach Intern. 

    • Jake Atkinson, Seasonal Riverscape Restoration Technician. 

Riverscape Restoration 

Building on our foundation for long-term ecological resilience through partnerships, planning, and on-the-ground restoration: 

  • Strengthened our partnership with Utah State University’s Beaver Ecology & Relocation Collaborative and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to support beaver reintroductions. 

  • Hosted a beaver co-existence demonstration with landowners, land managers, and agency partners to share best practices for living with beavers. 

  • We’ve secured all necessary permits and approvals. Our fall 2025 Riverscape Restoration projects are a go! 

  • Hosted a riverscape restoration workshop in Weber County, bringing together 150 local stakeholders and land stewards. 

  • Created a new Rapid Stream-Riparian Assessment database, led by technician Jake Atkinson, to better assess restoration work to date. 

Wildlife-Friendly Fence Restoration 

Restoring connectivity across Utah’s landscapes for migrating wildlife: 

  • Mapped and collected data on many miles of fences across Utah that will inform where fence removals and retrofits occur.  

  • Signed our first formal contract for fence removals and retrofits at the Woodruff Co-op Wildlife Management Area. 

  • With Summit Land Conservancy, we engaged 20 volunteers at open space owned by Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District and Nuzzles & Co. Pet Rescue and Adoption to remove and modify outdated fencing, enhancing habitat permeability. 

  • We will be welcoming a new graduate student to the program this fall in partnership with the University of Utah.

Great Salt Lake Conservation 

Protecting one of North America’s most important migratory bird habitats: 

  • Launched the International Phalarope Working Group website, expanded cross-border collaboration with representatives from Canada to Mexico, and began publishing a monthly newsletter. 

  • Successfully led the 2025 Spring Shorebird Survey, along with our partners, documenting 79,318 shorebirds and White-faced Ibis across 71 survey areas in Utah. 

  • Created shorebird identification resources (shorebird ID flashcards & in-person ID workshops) to welcome beginner birders into our conservation work. 

Utah Pollinator Pursuit

Growing pollinator biodiversity across Utah’s working lands and the Great Salt Lake: 

  • Kicked off a new phase of the program that builds pollinator conservation projects on working lands. 

  • Pollinator friendly plants are being grown in nurseries to be planted along Great Salt Lake wetlands this fall. 

  • Volunteers have logged 7,476+ pollinating insect observations in the Utah Pollinator Pursuit iNaturalist project. 

Utah HerpSearch & Western Toads

Discovering the secret lives of Utah’s reptiles and amphibians through community engagement: 

  • Launched the volunteer portion of our newest community science program.

  • Trained 108 volunteer community scientists to observe and conduct field surveys for herpetofauna species including the western toad.

  • This year, 4,472+ reptile and amphibian observations have been logged into the Herps of Utah iNaturalist project.  

Outreach and Community Engagement

Growing our connection with Utah communities: 

  • Hosted our third annual Pollinator Pride Party in June, engaging over 100 individuals in celebrating biodiversity and our LGBTQ+ community. 

  • Held two Bug Club meetups with over 60 participants, and more on the way! 

  • Tabled at 13 community events to share our mission and connect with new supporters. 

  • Frances Ngo (Community Engagement & Outreach Specialist) completed the Access Birding Course to empower Sageland Collaborative to improve access and inclusion across our community science projects. 

  • Launched the Comms Collective, a working group of conservation communicators sharing resources and strategies to reach broader audiences. 

None of this would be possible without your belief in our mission and your investment in a resilient, biodiverse Utah. Thank you for being a vital part of this work. 

With gratitude, 

The Sageland Collaborative Team 

Photos: Sierra Hastings

 
Sierra Hastings